Winx Club: Generations
by Phoenix1999
Summary: Kali, a young witch from Whisperia finds her whole world changing when she meets the Winx club's kids. A lot can change in three years as she fights evil, finds friendship, and fall in love. All without her family's approval, of course. What will she and her new friend's do when darkness threatens the magical universe...again? This is not what you'd expect out of a high school.
1. Year 1: Back to School Gala

Sam's POV

Its official, I decided, Will is either the bravest man I have ever met or the stupidest. On second thought, both, definitely both. After all, not many young heroes are confident AND foolish enough to saunter over to a group of witches in the middle of our annual back to school gala, ask one to dance, and then lead her onto the floor before she could, you know, answer. The girl's… pretty, I suppose. Maybe even more than pretty, though striking is perhaps the better term. She looked angelic; an odd juxtaposition for a witch, with her blonde ringlet curls and clear blue eyes conflicting with her fire engine red lipstick and black mascara that made her eyes look even brighter under the floating rainbow lights of the party. Her curvy, if slightly pale-skinned, form was tucked neatly into a bright red top under a black corset, and a light-wash denim skirt. On second thought, the top itself was rather unusual. As a rule, witches don't like bright colors and anyone could see that she was the only witch at the party wearing anything brighter than… Oh, about navy blue. I returned my mind to the present to see that Will had failed in convincing the blonde to dance with him, but was now none the less escorting her, a touch forcefully, over to where my friends and I were standing.

A short word on the matter. I have five close friends. We have been as thick as thieves since we were children. Our parents were all close friends during school and had always made a point of keeping in contact. I'm Sam, Prince of Solaria. I'm the rebel. My two best friends would be Will, the inveterate playboy who was leading the Blonde our way, and Eric, the fun loving, but overly responsible (read: goody-two-shoes), Prince of Eraklyon. Tanner and Aaron, the other two parts of our quintet, were MIA for the moment.

"Hey guys, meet Kali. Kali this is Sam and Eric." That's Will for you, smiley and confident as ever. The blonde, Kali her name was, looked… less than amused.

"Pleasure." She said shortly. Her voice was mid-ranged, but dusky and sweet. I raised an eyebrow at Will while he carefully avoided Eric's disapproving stare. 'Sigh' There was a boy who never could stay out of trouble. Will had turned back to her and started flirting, a bit outrageously, telling stories, always managing to turn it around into some kind of boast or compliment for the- for Kali's benefit.

"You know I think there's something wrong with my eyes. I can't seem to take them off you," he said cheekily.

"I have a problem with mine too. I just can't see you getting anywhere with me," she retorted without a break.

"Well that is a problem isn't it? Your eyes not seeing things that are there," he replied with a laughing false innocence.

"As bad as yours seeing things that aren't," she snarked back. Now, just saying, I'm pretty sure point he was only flirting with her at this point so he could hear her sarcastic comebacks.

"On the topic of eyes, do you have a map? I've gotten rather lost in yours." He said while leaning towards her keeping his chocolate brown eyes locked with her baby blues.

Still without the slightest pause or blush, she replied "Sorry, No map, but it's fine by me if you get lost." I couldn't help it. I tried. I really did, but I started laughing and Kali perked up and smiled at me while Will mock-glared and returned to flirting.

He had just finished describing an incident involving the five of us and a whole horde of angry ghouls (_Funny_, I cannot seem to recall ever pissing off a ghoul much less a whole horde of them…) when he turned and with his best, most charming smile asked "So Beautiful, care to dance?"

She gave him a look halfway between amused and exasperated that suddenly shifted into a syrupy sweet smile before replying, "I'd rather not, but" turning to me and asking in an overly cheerful, albeit obviously fake, tone of voice, "would _you_ care to dance?" I laughed before taking her hand and overdramatically replying,

"I'd just _love_, too." I led her gracefully on to the dance floor, but not before looking back at Will to see him looking rather playfully insulted. He saw me looking back and sent me a mock-glare that I just smirked at before turning to dance with Kali. Her eyes were still laughing as she said,

"Thanks, for playing along it was too good of a chance to turn up you see…" I laughed along with her and said,

"Don't mention it. Will could use the ego-deflating… most days really." She smiled again and I decided that she was _definitely_ more than pretty and probably better than striking too, but I shook my head slightly returning to the matter at hand. "So as Will told you, my name's Sam, I'm from Solaria. You?" I questioned.

"Whisperia." She responded easily and I blinked, a bit surprised. I probably shouldn't have been shocked though, Whisperia is known for producing powerful witches. Or to be more accurate, for producing powerful dark magic. Whisperia, quite simply, wasn't a very nice place. She seemed to expect my reaction though, as she rolled her eyes and responded, "Yeah, my home does have… quite the reputation doesn't it." She gave a fake little laugh "I suppose yours does too though. Our realms are only, you know, _exact_ opposites." I decided that right about then would be a great time to change the subject.

"So obviously a Cloud Tower student, but what year are you in?" I asked curiously.

"I'm a freshman. You?" she asked copying one of my earlier mannerisms. I smiled

"Sophomore actually, but I remember being a freshman, thrown to the wolves among the upperclassmen." She laughed and I relaxed slightly feeling far less nervous and conspicuous than I had been a moment ago. We talked and danced and laughed for hours and I was rather surprised when I finally removed my gold eyes from her sky blue to find that the moon was much higher in the sky then it had been when I first led her onto the floor. She seemed to realize that too as she extricated herself from my arms and made to excuse herself.

I quickly grabbed her hand before she could walk away. I hadn't thought about it, I don't even really know why I did it, but I didn't want her to go so I said "I wouldn't mind enjoying your company a while longer if you wouldn't mind." She seemed pleased, but slightly curious as if trying to understand what I meant by that (besides the obvious). She smiled and let me keep her hand as I started to lead her away from the dance floor to one of the many ornate benches around the grounds.

Unfortunately, before we could slip away from the party all together I heard a sickly sweet voice purr, "Kali, there you are. I just _hate_ to pull you away from Solaria's little princeling, but I wanted to have a word with you." Kali stiffened and I winced. Damn, I had been hoping to avoid the prince card. Most people either turn into suck-ups or are intimidated, and neither reaction is conducive to making friends… or more than friends. The angular dark-haired girl that had stalked up to us was… pretty in her own way, but she had the appearance of an ice queen. Someone who would happily shut you out and shut you up at any given opportunity.

Kali turned to respond with a mocking sort of cheerfulness in her voice "Oh there you are Lindsey! I'm sorry, was the middle of our conversation interrupting the beginning of yours?" She then turned and stomped away before the flabbergasted girl could reply. She was still holding my hand as we walked over to one of the afore-mentioned benches and sat down. "Sorry about that _Princeling._ Lindsey's… well." She apologized though I noticed her voice was a tad accusing.

"Right, you're a little annoyed I didn't tell you. Personally I don't see it as a big deal so I tend not to mention it much, but I apologize if I've offended you." I winced and explained quickly. Her accusing glace quickly melted and she shrugged, already over it. We sat down on one of the carefully wrought benches set around the Alfea campus and she pulled her hand from mine. I felt an odd sense of loss at her actions, and brushed my messy brown hair out of my eyes to give my hands something to do. Then, she asked me a question.

"So what's it like being a prince then? Or on a more general subject, what's Solaria like?"

I shifted towards her and responded with a hint of discomfort "Being a prince is… as it is. Like I said, I don't really talk about it much. I mean, it's not like it says anything about me. It just means I have to go to a." I quickly changed the subject, as the second question was more interesting anyway and I responded more cheerfully, "Solaria is beautiful though. As I'm sure you're aware, it's sunny there. All the time. Literally, it never rains, or snows, we don't even get clouds very often. Like you said, we are known for our light magic not that I know all too much about the subject. We have three suns and several moons as well. Farming isn't big on Solaria, we're a little dry for that, but Solaria isn't altogether urban like Zenith, either. It's more like endless suburbia other than the capital which is more like Magix." I explained smoothly. "What's Whisperia like?" I asked in return.

"Nothing like Solaria by the sound of it. Whisperia is very urban, very industrial. We are, as you know, known for dark magic, but it's not as bad as you'd expect. It's… beautiful in its own way. Especially at night and besides it's a fun place to explore." She smiled mischievously before finishing. "I spent most of my childhood sneaking out at night to wander."

I laughed and asked "And how old were you during your nighttime escapades?"

She just gave a sphinxlike smile before quipping, "Wouldn't you like to know." I made to ask her a question when a magically strengthened voice suddenly rang out above the crowd.

"Witches of Cloud Tower, we will now be returning to campus to prepare for the start of classes tomorrow if you would all gather by the gates we will be on our way." Kali stood quickly and walked towards the gates with me following close behind. I stopped her before she could join the crowd of witches.

"Hey, I- Well- I wouldn't mind… having the pleasure of your company again in the future." I managed to get out.

She looked at me, again surprised, but also decidedly pleased as she grinned at me, a touch mischievously and said, "Well, maybe we'll have to go dancing again some time." I smiled and lifted the hand I still held to my lips and holding it there for a long moment, gold eyes meeting blue, before releasing it. She smiled at me one last time before slipping into the crowd. I suddenly felt a bit of paper appear wadded up into my hand that hadn't been there when she had slipped away. I opened it and read 'You might need this if we're going to go dancing again, Princeling. -Kali' along with her phone number. I put the note in my pocket and smiled.

Kali's POV

He was… handsome, in a roguish kind of way. With his brown hair that he kept absent-mindedly mussing (I don't think he even realized he was doing it.) and his luminescent gold eyes. I had been standing with two of my "friends" Ashley and Rebecca when the other boy had confidently swaggered over. We had been talking (Read: complaining) about the dance and Alfea.

Ashley had said with a tone of total disgust "Ugh. Look at all the pathetic simpering little pixies flirting away with a bunch of hero-wanna-bees. Why are we here again?"

Rebecca had laughed and responded mockingly, "because complaining about pixies is one of our favorite hobbies. So what do you hate the most Kali?"

I had been ignoring them, but I glanced over to answer her question. After all, no reason to be rude even if Ashley and Rebecca annoy me. "Hmmm. Hard question. Probably how they all give us those looks every time we walk by as if we're going to attack them or something. It's ridiculous. Don't they realize we have better things to do? Honestly."

They nodded agreeing before Ashley said, "I think I hate their goody-goody attitudes most. I mean they honestly think that the world is a pretty, perfect little place that they can change if they try. Oh, please. No to mention, that they think their sunshiny personalities make them better than us, but really they're practically helpless in comparison not to mention stupid." She finished laughing.

Rebecca agreed nodding, then she laughed and added, "Witches are just more powerful, but I doubt any of them even know that. They are so naïve. They don't even know what magic is capable of." She paused waiting for a moment thinking, before she continued with barely hidden excitement, her eyes bright, "Maybe we should show them. I'm sure you could come up with something good Kali!"

I looked at her and barely resisted rolling my eyes. I nonetheless responded in a way that was mostly civil, "Why bother? At best, we accomplish something for five minutes… then a teacher fixes it and we get into trouble. That's not impressive; it's just stupid." I didn't mention the fact that I didn't want to prank the fairies, they wouldn't understand. I just don't care about their petty rivalries they had always seemed so pointless to me. It was just one of the many, silly prejudices my mother had tried to drill into my head.

The boy, Will was his name I think, had walked up before the others could reply. He was obviously confident with girls, for good reason I suppose with warm brown eyes that latched onto mine, and golden blonde hair that flipped up above his forehead, though he wasn't really my type. Too charming, too talkative, too fake. He'd given me an, admittedly very cute, smile and asked me to dance, but before I could quip back, he had smoothly pulled me onto the dance floor. We talked; well he talked anyway, trying to convince me to dance. I'm not much of a dancer though so I convinced him to just talk instead and he led me over to meet his friends, Sam and Eric.

Like I said, Sam's handsome, decidedly so, but much quieter than Will. I didn't get the chance to talk to Eric, but he was… noticeable. His hair was that orange color that everyone paradoxically calls red and his eyes were the same bright, bright blue as the sky. I remember Will had at that point started in on the pick-up lines, which I easily shot down. Now, I'm by no means one of those flirty, confident, party girls, but I'm not so sheltered that I don't know what to say in that situation. It wasn't exactly hard, and he didn't seem to take it too bad. I couldn't help laughing when I remembered turning over to Sam and asking him to dance, the look on Will and Eric's faces were great, fake-angry and happily entertained respectively.

The first thing I had noticed was that Sam had definitely done this before, often. He had just absentmindedly led me around the floor occasionally throwing out the little spins and dips that anyone can do, but that few accomplish smoothly. Which is why I suppose Lindsey's little barb had made so much sense when I heard it beyond her just trying to annoy me. A prince _would_ know how to dance now wouldn't he and she does hate me.

The best word I have for the two of us is rivals though that's not quite right. Of the freshmen witches, we were the two most powerful and everyone had their eyes on us. Everyone watching and waiting to see when we would finally face off. One of us would win and become the unofficial leader; one of us would lose and spend the rest of her school career trying to overthrow the other. It's practically tradition at good old CT. Don't you just _love_ the place? Uh, yeah. Not.

I had expected to hate the gala, and to be bored out of mind standing with my "friends". Who were and are vapid idiots only interested in the power and positions they'll get if I beat Lindsey. Instead, I had been rather sad to go, though Sam's last comment had made it a little better. I guess now we wait and see. Will we or won't he?


	2. Year 1: The First Day

· Kali's POV

I yawned and riffled through my closet before pulling out my favorite outfit. I wore it to the dance last night, but a quick cleaning charm made it fine to wear, and I wanted to wear it for luck today. I pulled the light wash denim on then slipped the red shirt over my head. I looked around to see if my roommates were up while I shrugged on my black corset tank top. I pulled on the strings leaving a gap in the front wear people could see my shirt, and then I tied the string and tucked them in the back. I walked over to Ashley's bed to wake her up and she woke up looking groggy, but I soon had her up. She woke up Rebecca complaining about how early it was while I grabbed socks and pulled on my black leather boots. I threw on mascara and lipstick and soon I was ready and raring to go while the other two struggled to decide on what to wear. They could never decide on _anything _without orders.

They eventually decided on their outfits, a teal top for Ashley with black skinny jeans, a mauve plaid skirt for Rebecca with a black tank, and we headed down to breakfast. We walked into the dining room and headed down the spiral walkways along the walls to our table about halfway up. We sat down to eat while the other witches around us talked. One of the other freshmen, Marianne, walked by making Rebecca snort with derision.

"Oh look, there's Mari again probably going to eat breakfast with her book again. She's such a nerd! I mean, honestly." Rebecca said loudly, not caring if anyone heard. Obviously, Marianne had judging from the way she drew into herself and hurried past. The other freshmen twittered. I shifted, uncomfortable, before I squashed that thought. After all, if I had a problem with something I shouldn't be uncomfortable I should fix it or get over it. Ashley opened her mouth to start in on the poor girl, but I interrupted.

"Cut it girls." I commanded and they stopped surprised.

"Kali?" Rebecca asked, clueless and tactless, while Ashley said nothing and returned to her food. Ashley always was the smarter of the two. I shook my head to Rebecca and she got the message, changing the conversation smoothly. Soon we were all laughing over her stories.

Rebecca, or Becca as we called her, was the cheerful one. Glassy green eyes and Golden blonde hair contrasting with my paler color. She was always happy and excited about everything, but I wouldn't confuse her cheerfulness with kindness. She may not be bright, but she had a cruel streak a mile wide. Her biting comments had already reduced Marianne to tears on more than one occasion. She was a flirt with boys, quick with the joke, and seemed to have an endless supply of funny stories about her life back home, but she wasn't a good person by any means. Her dueling skills were subpar though. She was far more skilled at the little verbal altercations that were always popping up. She handled those and in return, Ashley and I took care of any actual fights we got into.

Ashley, or Ash, was very different from Rebecca. Ashley was a skilled witch with a huge repertoire of hexes and jinxes that she was always happy to use. She struck at her enemies with a distant, ruthless vengeance, her grey eyes shining and her dark brown hair carefully tucked into place. She was more serious than Rebecca was, but not as social. If you want a night out talk to Rebecca, if you need someone to study with or to back you up in a fight ask Ashley. One point in Ashley's favor though, she wasn't anywhere near as cruel as Rebecca. If Ashley picked a fight you would be picking her opponent up off the ground, but she's never enjoyed throwing the same painful barbs that Rebecca specializes in. Ashley was however, ruthless. After all if one girl pisses her off why fight her then when she expects it? Ashley would much rather go after later and take her by surprise. She wasn't verbally cruel, but she would do whatever it took to harm those that dared to anger her.

We finished our breakfasts and sat around chatting until Headmistress Griffin dismissed us. My schedule was simple. It consisted of the required courses Hexes 101, Intro to Mayhem, Beginner Darkness, Magical Culture, and Potions I as well as two electives. I decided on Dueling I and Charms 101, and Rebecca and Ashley were in other electives so I would have those two classes alone at least.

The first class of the day was potions so Rebecca and I, minus Ashley as she had Mayhem first, headed down to the lab with some of the other freshmen. I had, of course, heard lots of things about the professor, Bittersmoke, but they all seemed to be contradictory stories so I wasn't sure what to expect, not that I would admit that. We filed in and the two of us grabbed a table in the middle of the room. Bittersmoke, an old cranky looking man walked out of his office and into the classroom.

"Don't get comfortable. I have a seating chart already prepared." He boomed his voice rough. Rebecca rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, earning a glare from our teacher, but I stayed silent. No reason picking a fight until I know what I'm up against. He assigned us our seats with Rebecca ending up next to some blonde who spent the whole class on her phone and I ended up, much to Rebecca's derision, sitting next to Marianne. I thought little of it really. She seemed fine. Besides, on the bright side it will make this class much easier. After all, it was a well-known fact that Marianne was the smartest witch in our class. I nodded respectfully as I approached her, and she waved rather awkwardly. I introduced myself confidently, but anyone could tell that she wasn't sure what to do with herself. There was a girl who could definitely use an ego boost.

She buried her head in her book, _Cloudtower: A Memoir_, to avoid me so I chose to inspect the classroom. It was fair sized, big enough to hold a dozen long black tables sitting two students apiece with one cauldron between them. The room currently held 20 of the 24 students it could hold so the back row was empty other than one table. The room itself was chilly and smelled like a strange mixture of aconite and toadstools. It was made of stone and dimly lit which made it look rather stereotypical. Honestly, they could try for a little originality on occasion. It wouldn't hurt anybody.

I yawned again as Professor Bittersmoke gave us our assignment. To brew a Forgetfulness Potion before the end of class. It wasn't a difficult potion. A dash of Lethe water, a little heat, a sprig or two of valerian, stir, add mistletoe berries, stir, and you're done. Simple enough, and Marianne and I had it finished in no time much to the Prof's pleasure. Rebecca, never the brightest, and the blonde who didn't seem to even know which class she was in, however had a few issues. Fun fact. When you add too much mistletoe to anything, your _potion_ will turn into a _poison_. The blonde tested it at the end of class and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office puking. Rebecca was just pleased that she was smart enough not to drink it herself.

The second class was Darkness with Headmistress Griffin, and the third was Mayhem with Zarathustra. Both classes went well with minimum chaos involved, other than Mayhem, but that was of course the point. The next class was Magical Culture. Which was essentially part Magical History and part etiquette. The class was mostly modern history except it included more about high class living than anyone here cared to know. Our teacher, Professor Lucrezia, was pretty with long blue hair. She was decidedly younger than the other professors and her teaching style reflected that even if her subject matter didn't.

She was sitting on her desk in the front of the classroom while I sat with Ashley and Rebecca in the back. "Who knows what the Winx Alliance is?" she asked her voice light. Marianne, right on cue, raised her hand. "Yes Mari?" Lucrezia called out.

"It's the political alliance between Andros, Solaria, Eraklyon, and Sparks, right?" Marianne answered unconfidently.

Lucrezia smiled at her sweetly, "That's just it. It also involves some weaker bonds with Melody and Magix." Then she asked her next question, "Now who knows who created this alliance?" Marianne once again raised her hand, but Lucrezia didn't call on her instead consulting her seating chart for a moment and calling out, "Kali?"

I answered easily; it was, after all, a very famous alliance made by very powerful people after all. I had utter faith that everyone in the room _could_ answer the question they just wouldn't if they had a choice. "Their royal highnesses, Sky and Bloom of Eraklyon and Sparks, Brandon and Stella of Solaria, and Nabu and Aisha of Andros." I said.

Lucrezia smiled and then corrected kindly, "The correct form of address would be 'their majesties', but you have the answer correct. Very good. Alright class one more question, who are the heirs to those royal houses?"

I stopped to think for a moment. Solaria and Eraklyon were obvious, to me at least, but I wasn't sure on the others. I knew that only the keeper of the DragonFire could inherit the throne of Sparks, but Eric is an only child as far as I'm aware and he didn't have it. Andros on the other hand I had no clue on.

Lucrezia tried to pull the answer from a few students, but ultimately ended up giving it to us. "Eraklyon is Prince Eric, a sophomore at Red Fountain, Solaria is Prince Sam, another sophomore, Andros is Prince Malik, who's already graduated, and Sparks is the lost Princess Eve."

Rebecca blinked confused, she usually is, but I suppose in fairness I wasn't sure what she was talking about either. Unfortunately, Lucrezia didn't seem eager to talk about it either as we moved on to talk about other major peace treaties and declarations of war and the like. I put the so-called 'lost princess' out of my mind. She was probably Eric's cousin or aunt or something anyway, since he doesn't have siblings. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that the name was familiar. Princess Eve of Sparks.

The class passed quickly as did the next. Hexes 101 under Professor Ediltrude. It was an interesting class, but she spent the whole class lecturing so we didn't actually have the chance to do anything. Then it was dueling and I left Ashley and Rebecca heading towards the 'History of Fashion' elective while I headed towards the courtyard. It was a small area, nothing like Alfea's quad. It was nestled between the tall towers that make up CT. I walked forwards to join the small group of girls in the class. There was only eight of us total. Obviously not a popular class. The teacher was, again, Griffin who seemed happier to be teaching this class then Beginner Darkness.

"Good morning witches, and welcome to Dueling I. I hope all of you girls are prepared to work because this is not an easy class. It was set up for girls serious about using their magic both offensively and defensively. Now, to kick off the class we will be having a quick dueling tournament. So pair up girls, quickly now." Headmistress Griffin told us.

I caught the eyes of a tall red-head from the group of girls and we turned to face each other. I inspected my nails while I waited for Griffin to tell us to start. Not because I actually cared about my nails, but because you could see my nonchalance making the red-head antsy.

"Begin!" came the call from Griffin and the girl launched a raging witch ball at me that I batted aside without looking up from my nails. I did, however look up in time to see the red-head's jaw drop amusingly, and I chuckled before actually starting the fight. She was a capable opponent with more raw power than you normally see. It was her skill that could use work. She stayed in place too much when fighting and her blows were all raw power lacking in finesse. It took a little work to break her shields, but once I had she went down fairly easily and I moved onto the next opponent.

My next opponent was fast. Faster than me, even. Soon we were really fighting. Magic pulsing through the air as we through attack after attack. Her moves were repetitive though, leaning towards robotic. It didn't take me long to figure the pattern out. Then it was nothing to beat her. A quick fireball thrown where she was going to be rather than where she was made a direct hit when she didn't expect it and she went down. On to the final match. Nothing serious. I wasn't really concerned.

On the matter, It's awful and weird and I know that, but that doesn't change the fact that I enjoyed battle. The rush, the heat, the adrenaline. Glorifying in my own power, my own grace. My movements smooth as I flew or cast. Fire flying from my fingertips without the slightest struggle. Raw power, and a fiercely competitive spirit, meeting well trained skill. There wasn't a witch at this school who could beat me in a fight. I'd bet money on that, and there certainly weren't any freshmen who could which made this next battle's end obvious. I suppose I'm arrogant, but is it arrogance when it's true? I have been doing this for years longer than anyone else, so is it arrogance to say I'm better?

The next girl was one I recognized from Magical Culture. She had been sitting in the far back as close to the door as she could get looking bored out of her mind. Her manner was utterly different now though. Her eyes bright as she regarded me utterly eager for the coming fight. I stood and smiled back at her, knowing that my usual tricks for psyching people out wouldn't work on this one. She was confident, notably so. I resisted the urge to smirk or laugh. She thought the fight was over. She thought she was going to win. It may be hypocritical of course, but that doesn't make ego bashing any less entertaining.

"And Begin!" Griffin again announced while the rest of the class looked on, subtly placing bets, their eyes excited to see what would happen. The other girl and I stared at each other for a long moment, trying to see who would jump headfirst into battle first. The answer? Her. She leapt up and shot a storm of wooden stakes down around me. I didn't bother to move or dodge. Instead I raised my hand and through a protective barrier of fire up. My shield sent hot winds suddenly swirling around the courtyard making my hair fly, but it did what I wanted it to. I smiled at the girl as her wooden stakes turned to ash and blew away. Her eyes widened.

Then it was really a fight. I didn't hold back, didn't slow myself down. I saw no reason too. She defended herself and I broke through until the fight turned into her desperately evading while I showed her why fire was considered the most aggressive of the four elements. Shields, fireballs, explosions, and whips shot flying from my hands and hers while we dueled. She managed to shoot a blast of pure magic at me after barely slipping by one of my attacks, but I had little problem deflecting her attack and returning to my own. Blow after blow I herded her closer to the ground until she was on the ground and I managed to avoid her attack and fly straight up. The courtyard surrounded my towers on all sides was like one long deep cylinder and it was a rather advantageous position to shoot down from. As with the sun up above me, she couldn't see me. It was the easiest thing in the world to wind up and throw a fireball at her from there. She never saw it coming, literally.

I smiled as I landed and the other girls picked my opponent up off the ground. Laughing at her failure. The girl herself was upset and surprised. She stared at me like I had just grown horns on my forehead. I smiled at her cheerfully while she stomped off, the class over. I grabbed my bag to go, but Griffin stopped me.

"Kali?" she called.

I turned towards her my bag over my left shoulder, "Yes, Headmistress?"

She gave a slight smile, "That was well done. I'm curious though, who taught you to fight like that? The style seems familiar somehow."

I shrugged and answered, "My mother taught me, but I don't know why you'd recognize it." I laughed slightly before continuing, "I didn't even know we had a style."

She chuckled softly and then walked away her expression thoughtful as she (presumably) tried to remember where she recognized my fighting style from.

The last class of the day, Charms, was another easy one and soon I was back in my dorm room sprawled out on my bed. Exhausted, but happy. Suddenly my phone started buzzing and I flipped it open to see that I had a new text message from a number I didn't recognize.

-Hey, It's Sam. How'd your first day go?

I smiled and responded.

-Good, but long. I…


	3. Year 1: Second Meetings

· Kali's POV

I slipped out of the door to the café with Ashley and Rebecca at my heels. We were talking about everything and nothing. As it usually is with girls. "I can't believe that Professor Ediltrude assigned us a paper over the weekend, I mean really? Doesn't she know that everybody has plans?" Rebecca complained her normally cheerful demeanor, notably absent.

"I know right?" Ashley agreed before continuing, "Seriously, the Profs were kids once she_ has_ to know that no one's going to do the assignment."

"At least not until Sunday night anyway." I said laughing. They both laughed and we all smiled as we walked down Main Street, Magix. It was a Saturday so the three of us had decided to ditch our homework and grab something for lunch. The little café we went to was nice, and rather retro. With checkerboard floors and a, fake, jukebox. We continued to chat as we walked into Aberzombie and Witch. Rebecca promptly headed over to the clearance section while Ashley went to look at accessories. I started rooting through one of the stands looking for a red version of one of the display items. I had just found it when I looked out the window to see Lindsey and some of her friends sprinting into an alley. The smile melted from my face.

"Ash, Becca. I think we should shop more later. There's something we ought to go checkout first." I called across the store my voice steady, too steady, they could tell that something was wrong. Rebecca came out from behind one of the stands, and Ashley set down the dark teal stilettos she had been looking at and walked over.

"What's up?" she asked her tone concerned. I didn't answer instead I just headed for the door, the two of them following along. They seemed to sense that something big was about to happen, and as we turned into the alley across the street they moved to flank me.

I suppose it figured really. We had embarrassed Lindsey at the dance and since she couldn't get at me, yet she tried to get back at him. Sam was standing there with Will, Eric, and a few fairies I didn't know. They weren't fighting yet, but you could tell that that was where it was going, and that Lindsey would undoubtedly win. Witches outnumbered the little group two to one. Eric was at the front of the group stalling while trying to find a diplomatic solution, but you could see Sam and Will, who was looking unusually serious, ready to draw their weapons. The girls with them were keeping quiet, a good move as they would only piss Lindsey off, but you could tell they were ready to fight any minute. I'd say it was time someone diffused the situation.

"Oh." I practically purred my voice condescending, "How cute. Picking fights again Lindsey, darling?" My voice was mocking and cruel as I walked towards Lindsey, the witches in my way parting like the Red Sea. She turned on me and glared viciously, annoyed that I had interrupted her fun.

"Why? Do you want to join?" She asked her voice dismissive, as if I wasn't worth her time.

I raised my eyebrows and snorted slightly, "Why bother. Two to one odds aren't even a challenge." I paused to prepare for my next retort, "Honestly, I can't imagine why you think you need so much backup to take out this little crew. Scared that you can't handle it, dear heart?" I said causing her to snarl angrily, but I continued, my voice mocking, "Are you afraid of the big bad fairies?"

Her response was angry and half-feral, and if I wasn't schooling my expression, I would have smiled. I had been taught a long time ago not to let my anger get the best of me. After all, overly strong emotions are just a weakness, only good for manipulation. She was losing her temper and she would pay for it in a minute.

"The only one that should afraid is you." She hissed, and I smiled, knowing that it would infuriate her.

"I can't imagine why. After all, we all know how this will end." I said cheerfully, mentally laughing as she practically shot steam out of ears. A blast of electric blue lightning came flying from her hand at me, but I turned it aside easily and it crashed into the wall of the building beside me, dissipating. "Temper, temper Lin. Someone will think I'm actually getting to you." My voice was back to a quiet purr mocking and overconfident. We started to circle each other, hostile, ready to fight. As we walked, Sam and his friends were soon behind me and I glanced over, silently trying to tell them to get ready to run.

This was it. The fight we'd been moments from starting for the last two weeks. She would fight, but fail, and I would be thrust into the spotlight, so it looked like we were both about to lose, really. Lindsey was riled, obviously pissed, short black hair hanging in her face from where it had pulled out of her high ponytail. Her blue eyes were livid, infuriated, she was absolutely willing, in fact, even eager to knock me out of the sky. I was calm, just like I'd been taught. I kept my cool, kept my head, and watched for her to show a weakness. It wasn't long before she did.

Lindsey again tried to blast me and I dodged before launching a fireball at her with my right hand. It went wide, but that had been the point. It had been close enough to her that she dodged unnecessarily terrified of losing, and the crowd had to dodge to avoid being charbroiled. This made a good distraction for my left hand to magically pop the lock on one of the side doors. The little group of fairies and heroes headed through with Sam giving me a last glance. By the time Lindsey and the others were refocused on the fight, their would-be victims were gone and I was attacking. She fought back as well as she could, and in fairness, she was good. Very good even. No one could deny that, but I wasn't your run of the mill schoolgirl. She grew up throwing petty hexes at the girls who hated her for being a witch. I grew up sparring and training to be as dangerous and capable as possible. I was trained, she learned. It's not exactly surprising that I'm out of her league.

One last bolt of lightning from her and I decided that I had given the others plenty of time to run. It was time to end it. The other witches put their backs against the walls to avoid the fireball I launched at Lindsey. Although, fireball is a bit of a loose term. It was more like I sent a wall of fire that filled all, but the very edges of the alleyway at her, sending her flying out of the alley to land haphazardly on the sidewalk, beaten. I smirked and as I walked past her to leave I kneeled down next to her half-conscious and whispered, "Didn't I tell you to watch you temper, doll?"

The other witches were obviously riled up as they whispered and cashed in their bets. I walked out of the alleyway with all the poise and arrogant grace that had been drilled into me as a child, but Ashley and Rebecca came with me. Ashley eager to talk about the fight and Rebecca eager to get back to shopping.

"So are we headed back to Aberzombie, then?" Rebecca asked eagerly.

I shrugged and then pasting a false smile on my face said, "I actually need to run down to the Apothecary. I can just meet up with you guys later."

Ashley protested assuring me that, "We can come with you if you'd like."

I could feel my phone start to vibrate in my pocket, although it was too quiet for them to hear. I needed to lose the lackeys, stat. "Oh, don't worry about it we can meet up later." I told them. They shrugged and headed off while I ducked around the corner and answered my phone. A now familiar number sprawling across the top of the screen.

"Hey, Princeling." I asked. Sure enough, Sam's voice answered me.

"Hey Kali." I smiled happy to hear from him.

I then answered, a touch mocking, a touch pleased with myself, "'Bout time you called, Princeling." I could tell that he was smiling even through the phone as he defended his innocence saying that he'd been busy.

"Hey, so… thanks for the save. We all appreciated it. I was uh, just wondering if you'd let me buy you lunch to say thanks? We are all headed to that little pizza place on 2nd and Elm." I grinned, pleased if a little surprised. I had just eaten with the girls, of course, but it had been a light lunch an hour and a half ago so I was sure I could manage a slice. Especially in good company.

I answered happily, "A smart girl never turns down free food. I'll meet you guys there in 5, 10 minutes."

His response sounded relieved, as if he thought I'd tell him to take a hike, "Cool! I'll see you then." I said goodbye as well and headed towards the pizza parlor. I knew the place, Ashley had showed it to Rebecca and I last weekend. The pizza was excellent, and the location even better. It was right off Main Street, which kept the walk from CT short. It only took me a few minutes to get there. I walked in to find the others already sitting down.

"Kali. You finally made it." Sam said smiling happily. I grabbed a seat between him and one of the fairies. That one had dark hair and tan skin with a notably practical clothing style. No heels, no spaghetti straps, no skinny jeans. Just a dark green t-shirt over jeans and tennis shoes. I had the feeling I would like her. The two girls next to her were also… distinctive, but not so much my style. One had _magenta_ hair of all things and wore ungodly amounts of baby blue and neon purple, all designer and modern, of course. The other had dark brown skin and hair. She wore a modest blue sundress that seemed to scream 'girl next door.' Oy vey.

The practical fairy turned towards me brushing long black hair out of her way impatiently, "Thanks for the save by the way. I'm Lily."

"Kali." I answered pleasantly shaking her hand.

She then introduced me to the other two, "Little-miss-popstar here is Aria," she said pointing to the purple one, "And the goody two shoes of the group is Mira." She said pointing to the 'girl next door.'

"Goody two shoes, hmm? Why aren't you dating the red head?" I asked motioning to Eric, who even I already knew was straight laced, with a slight laugh, although my eyes made it clear that I was teasing.

Will smiled and laughed loudly before saying without the slightest hint of self-consciousness, "Now I remember why I like you so much. I've tell them that all the time!" he was just happy, pleased, and comfortable, without the slightest hint of worry. A rather startling contrast to his more serious attitude earlier.

Eric rolled his eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh, "And I tell you, all the time, that we've known each other since we were kids, I see her as family, and we are never going to date no matter how 'incredibly goody-goody' our theoretical children would or would not be." See what I mean? His answer was diplomatic and didn't even hint at true annoyance. What a goody two shoes.

We all talked, and ate, and talked some more and it was fun. Really fun, it was kind of weird. Okay, full disclosure. As you've probably figured out by now I've never really had much for friends. I mean, there have always been lackeys like Ashley and Rebecca, and I've always had things to do and people to see if I so chose, but I've never really had true friends. No one I was really close too.

I suppose the cause has two parts. For one, I spent all my free time being tutored in witchcraft by my mother and my aunts as a kid. I didn't have time for friends. For another, I was trained to see people as… chess pieces, really. I'm older now, I've gotten past a lot of what I was taught, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to remind myself that the people around me are… people. Not pawns.

This was different though, in a good way, I thought while Will made a joke at Lily's expense. She glared at him, secretly trying not to smile, but I think we could all tell she wasn't really mad. Just amused, and a little exasperated. A mixture of emotions that seemed to show up in Will's presence often. Everyone here was… nice. They all wanted to spend time with one another; not one of them was just here because they needed the others. Coming from someone who grew up on Whisperia and then went to CT, It felt weird. I suppose as absolutely ridiculous as it is, I haven't often seen people who were really, truly friends. Not like this little troupe of goody-goodies.

I glanced over after I heard Aria ask me something, "Hmm?" I asked not sure what she'd said.

She smiled before repeating the question, which I answered. She was… hard to get a read on. Decidedly. Her outfit was modern and fashionable, a trait that normally annoyed me, but she didn't act near as ditzy as I would have imagined, although she kept making cow eyes at the waiter who had started to stutter every time he opened his mouth. She seemed to find that funny. Her outfit consisted of a baby blue pencil skirt and a _bright purple_ blouse. It was like business casual if you were going to a rave. Strappy purple heels and a white belt with a bow on the side completed her, pretty, but wildly impractical outfit. She was girly and illogical, but at the same time, her voice and expressions were honest, real. She didn't feel fake as one would assume from someone looking like her. (Yes, I _do_ know what 'assume' does. Thank you very much.)

I smiled again, listening quietly to Eric as he tried to defend himself against the combined weight of Mira, Aria, and Will as they all teamed upon him to tease him about his date next weekend. I turned, and without much though, leaned up against Sam. He stiffened surprised at first, but then he slipped his arm loose and wound it around my shoulder while we returned to watching Eric's love life be dissected in public. Lily gave me a funny look, as she was the only one that had noticed how we were sitting, but she didn't say anything about it. The others were too engrossed in their argument to pay the slightest bit of attention to us. It was all nice. Really nice, but foreign.

It was about time the boy called me.


	4. Year 1: The Day of the Rose

· Kali's POV

"So you going home, Kali?" Rebecca asked with her customary smile. I pulled my head out of my suitcase and gave her the 'what do you think?' look. She just kept smiling as she outlined her own plans to me. Ashley was shaking her head in the background as she threw just the basics in her purse.

Interrupting Rebecca's spirited rant, Ashley said, "Kali'll be in Whisperia and you're going home to Isis so what am I going to do? My parents are off-realm so I'll be stuck in Magix on my own."

"Oh woe is Ash! Whatever will you do with yourself with a whole day free of distractions?" I said laughing, and she mock-glared back. Rebecca tittered from her place by the closet.

Rebecca couldn't help but put in her own two cents, "I would either find some little Alfea pixies to mess with or some Red Fountain boys to flirt with, but you'll probably be boring and spend your whole day in the library."

Ashley chucked a pillow at Rebecca's head while I defended, "Hey! Nothing's wrong with the library. It's the only reason you're passing your classes, Becca." They laughed while I slipped shut the zipper on my bag and grabbed my jacket from my bed.

"Alright well, I'm out of here. I'll see you both tomorrow." They said there farewells while continuing their 'library argument,' a recurring one.

I shrunk my suitcase and slipped it into my pocket. Then, sticking my hands in the leather pockets I slipped out of the school among the crowd. The buses run near constant shuttles on the Day of the Rose so I hopped on and I was soon at the teleport station. The line was long, but the process was quick so I wasn't waiting too long.

"Whisperia." I called out to the teleporter. With a rush of icy coldness and a burst of light I vanished from Magix and appeared back home, in Whisperia. It was chilly out, but, then again, it was always chilly there. I walked out of the teleport station into the cold mist of the Whisperia streets.

The place would never be considered pretty in the conventional manner, but I thought it had its own charm. The cold air blew my hair around my head, but couldn't touch my skin through my leather jacket. The mist obscured my vision, but always reminded me of the black and white film noirs I had watched as a child. The streets were dark, winding, and mysterious so those few tourists foolish enough to travel here always complained of getting lost. I knew my way around though. I stalked down the empty, curving roads confidently. It was no matter at all too slip from the main thoroughfares into the dark alleys, where shadowy forms huddled together whether for defense or warmth it was hard to say. I saw a few young men approach each other their manners were threatening and angry, but I slipped past as if I was invisible. I grew up here, I belong here, and everyone from around here can tell that.

A few more blocks and I was at my street. I walked by a figure I didn't recognize who blinked at me from behind a screen of cigarette smoke. He stared after me a moment before stumbling off. I just kept walking suddenly anxious. How do I put this…? My family's… unique, and not in a cute, quirky kind of way. My mother has very strict opinions on what a witch should and should not do. As well as even stricter opinions on what I, as her daughter, should and should not do. I should focus on my schoolwork and work to become a better, more powerful witch. I should spend my time pranking and fighting my enemies to show them that I'm a better, more powerful witch. I should not be nice to do-gooders. I definitely should not be nice to fairy do-gooders. I absolutely should not become involved with a hero do-gooder.

Now, maybe it's just me, but I don't think she will approve of any of the people I've been spending my time with lately. Befriending fairies and heroes is not on her list of things I should do. It's not even on her list of things I _can_ do, and seriously flirting with a hero is even worse.

I'm sure most people would just advise me not to tell them, but you don't know my family. If I went to, my friend, Nathan's house in the middle of the night, closed the door, locked the door, shut the curtains, and _sneezed_, my mother would know about it by the time I got back. It's just how she is, and no. I don't know how she does it. My original theory was that they were sending their craven bird to spy on me, but even after I took on craven-blasting as a hobby and the blasted things started refusing to go near me my mother and my aunts still knew what I was up to. It's kind of the worst. You try having your parents know your every move. You either give up and turn utterly obedient, or you get good at hiding things, and even better at lying your way out of trouble. I went with the latter. Not that I would dare openly disobey my mother she's my mom, and not easy to disobey either. It was the quiet things you could fight her about, not so much the bigger ones.

I grabbed the big silver key that was hidden in the houseplant to the left of the door. The carnivorous houseplant next to the door, that is. It took a special spell to get the key out without being bitten. A simple, but effective defense mechanism. I walked in to find the house empty, but I wasn't concerned. I poked a head into the library, but since they weren't there I knew they had to be in the potions lab in the basement. Sure enough, there they were.

My mother, Ilena, was the leader. She was tall with blonde hair even paler than mine that she kept pulled back in a braid and slung over her shoulder. Her eyes were a similar shade of blue to mine, but while mine were bright, hers were as cold as the ice she controlled. My aunts, Donna and Sandra, looked nothing like their sister. Sandra was the shortest with frizzy hair left bunched up in a short ponytail behind her. With black/purple hair and green eyes, people often wondered how the three sisters were even related. The last member of their little trio, my aunt, Donna, was the quietest, but also the one I was closest too. The others had formidable tempers, but Donna at least let me try to justify my opinion before disagreeing. Her hair was a dark brown that she left tucked up into a messy bun. Hazel eyes behind square-rimmed glasses gave her a scholarly appearance, like a librarian or something.

Donna and Sandra smiled pleased to see me, but my mother was cold. She was mad at me, and I was sure that I would hear all about her disapproval before I went back to school. It wouldn't be tonight though, I knew her well enough to know that. She would let my homecoming stay peaceful. At least for now, but she wouldn't want me to go back to school until I knew exactly what she expected me to do.

We talked and laughed at my school stories. As I had expected, mother didn't start a fight, but you could feel the tension as we all tiptoed around the topic. We went out to eat at my favorite restaurant while they talked about what they had been working on. Donna was trying to track down (another) ancient grimoire while Sandra worked on a new potion. My mother didn't volunteer any information, I didn't ask. We just tiptoed. After we got home from dinner I begged off a little time to meet up with Nathan.

I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. It was a fairly long walk to his usual hangout, but it was one I'd made a few billion times before. A word on the matter of his 'usual hangout.' See, he's kinda sorta a gang leader. You know, maybe. Although gang's not really the best word for it. Now, first thing to remember, gangs are common around here, but Nathan's group isn't a traditional gang by any means. They were more like a particularly violent group of vigilantes. They all lived or had family that lived in the neighborhood so their main goal was and has always been to look after the people in their 'territory' the only issue being that they will use any means necessary to accomplish that. I had seen them fight or intimidate everything from petty criminals to outside gangs. So… Nathan isn't exactly a good person, per say, but I trust him, he has a heart of gold, and he is my friend. Which is really the final word there.

The whole group hung out at Nathan's house/group headquarters. I knew that most of them would be home with family (like I should be), but Nathan had always been a bit of a loner. No wife. No kids. No girlfriend. Not even a dog. Just the gang and I. Our friendship had always been a bit of an oddity but, he's... Well, he wasn't old enough to be, technically, but he was still the closest thing I'd ever had to a father. When my mother and I fought, I ran to his house and we curled up on the couch and watched a movie while eating popcorn and candy. He was all movie quotes, and reminding me to be myself. Now, my mother didn't approve of him, but she didn't argue much. I suppose she was glad that I had someone to talk too. Really talk too. Not just tiptoe around. Soon I ran up to the door and knocked excitedly until someone opened the door.

Nathan. He was just as I remembered him. He was a tall man, 26-28 years old or so, with broad shoulders. Dirty blonde hair hanging scraggily down from his chin looked more intimidating than kind, but bright eyes held the sort of inherent goodness you couldn't often find on Whisperia. He smiled, white teeth showing for a second before greeting me, "Kali! How've you been? Having fun in Magix?" I answered quickly and he hugged me while ushering me into the building.

A handful of the others were hanging out here too. Diane, 17 years old and an orphan who refused anyone's charity. Tyler, 43 years old and a widow who'd lost his wife to disease and his sons to gang violence. Last, but not least, Matthew, 21 years old who had a falling out with his parents, ran away, and just never went back. They all greeted me kindly. I had always gotten along well with the gang. They were a family of their own kind, rather miraculously less dysfunctional than my own. I grabbed a seat on the couch next to Matthew and glued my eyes on the TV screen. It was yet another of Nathan's film noirs in black and white. One of my favorites, but I had seen it a million times. Still, you couldn't ask for better company, no matter how hodge-podge they were. I curled up and watched the movie, smiling.

I didn't get back to the house until late. We had finished the first movie then thrown in the next, an Earth one this time. Casablanca. I had a good time, and it was helpful that I was too tired to be nervous about heading home once the marathon was finished. I popped my head in the door, but the house was dark and totally silent so I knew that the others must have headed to bed. It worked for me. Besides, I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again. My issues could just wait until tomorrow.

Of course, they wouldn't wait very long.

I woke to the smell of toast and burnt bacon, a familiar scent in this house. Right up there with aconite and old books. I got up, stretched, got dress, considered going back to bed, and decided against it. All in all a normal morning. I snagged a few pieces of bacon and sat at the table next to my mother awkwardly. The silence stretching between us my mother drilling her eyes into me. Logic told me to stay calm, stay cool, let it bother her, not me…

I broke down first.

"Did you have something you wanted to say, mother?" I asked, turning towards her, my voice distant and formal.

She tilted her head considering me for a moment, letting me psych myself out then slowly, delicately stated, "I'm just concerned about you is all." Her voice was innocent, but her eyes were vicious. An open threat. Daring me to deny her unspoken accusations.

"Oh?" I questioned, my voice smoother than I had hoped. I raised my eyebrows as if I had no idea what she was implying at all. After all, if she wanted this fight then she'd have to start it. I wasn't going to do it for her.

"Tell me, why aren't witches and fairies friends?" she asked her tone brooking no argument, although I tried anyway.

"Because people are stuck in a prejudiced viewpoint even though witches and fairies are essentially the same the only difference being that one powers their magic with positive energy and one powers their magic with negative energy." I answered solidly as if that was the answer she was looking for, as if that wasn't a subtle insult.

She continued as if she hadn't heard me, her voice sharp, "Because fairies aim to pointlessly try to fix the world's problems choosing to ignore their own issues while witches are intelligent enough to protect their own interests. Because fairies and society in general hate witches intrinsically."

"A problem that witches have rather unintelligently, never tried to correct." I said my voice rising, my pulse speeding up a bit. I was disagreeing with my mother, I am so going to get it for this.

She was no longer being subtle, she wasn't going to dance around this. Her opinion was stone and steel. I couldn't change it, couldn't ignore it. "I do not approve of you being friends with a bunch of fairies and heroes. Their foolish and they will only get in your way." Here her voice was kinder, somehow sweet and cold, "They aren't your friends. Surely your smart enough to realize that, Sweetheart? They only want your protection from the other witches. Just like those girls Ashley and Rebecca they are only using you for power." I shifted unsure. I shouldn't doubt them, I had seen enough movies to know that that wasn't part of friendship, but most everyone I had ever known had been aiming for power one way or another. Why did I think they were any different?

A reply, shaky and hurt, "They aren't all after protection." They weren't. Sam sure as hell wasn't. He didn't care about power, wasn't interested in manipulation, wouldn't bother to avoid a fight when he could just fight it. Sam wasn't using me. He wouldn't, and for that matter Will was too blatant to do so and Eric too nice. Lily too honest, Mira too sweet, and Aria too confident in her own abilities. They _wouldn't_.

She seemed to read my thoughts as she hissed, "You think that boy is any better? He could and has had any girl he's ever wanted. You're his pretty, new flavor-of-the-week. Nothing more than a pretty face to him." I froze and blinked back sudden hot tears. I couldn't say anything. I didn't know when to start. All I knew was the picture my mother's poisonous words had painted.

One where I didn't matter.

One where I never would

I stood up and wordlessly headed up to my room. My mother's anger had subsided by the time I walked back past, bag in tow. This visit had lasted as long as it needed to, and I, at the moment, didn't want to see my family. I wanted to go back to school and pretend that the poisonous, doubtful thoughts weren't swirling around in my brain.

I headed towards the transporter.

I broke down first.


	5. Year 1: First Date

· Kali's POV

Weeks had passed since I had first met the others in Magix, and it had been two weeks since the disaster on Whisperia. I had been upset about what my mother had said, but I had pushed it into the back of my mind. Determined not to think about it. In an effort to (silently) rebel against my mother, I had made an effort to spend as much time as possible with the Winx kids. Male and female. As I had suspected she would, Lily quickly became my best friend. While I grew fond of Aria and Mira as well, although they were more feminine than I was used to. The same was true of the boys. Eric was like an older brother, always trying to keep things under control and Will was like a younger brother, reveling in the chaos. I also met Aaron, Aria's older brother, and Tanner.

Aaron was very mature and cool. He wore a black leather jacket, canvas shoes, and designer jeans most days. His style distant and mysterious, as he silently laughed at the other boys' antics from behind his expensive shades. Tanner was an absolute nerd, but in the best possible way. In a way that meant pop culture in-jokes, genius level intellect, and lame science puns. He wore jeans and science t-shirts over his lean, twiggy form, and smiled at the world… when he wasn't distracted by his video games. Sam was… Sam. He was one of my best friends, and we seemed to get closer all the time, quickly surpassing what was normal for 'friends.'

It was the easiest thing in the world to just hang out with them. Everyone comfortable, everything real, no fakeness to it. The other students, predictably, disapproved of our friendship, but the rest of the Winx didn't care what the other kids thought of them so long as they had each other, and I was far too powerful for the other witches to challenge. Eventually, I felt confident that this would all hit the fans, but for the time being I was glad to just enjoy the ride. It would certainly be a fun one up too, and after, that point.

We were all out at one of the many dance clubs in Magix. It was a Friday night, and Aria, Will, and I were out dancing on the floor. I lacked Aria's natural smoothness of motion and feel for the music, but I made up for that, to a limited extent, with the same grace and finesse that made me an excellent dueler. Aria was flirting with a boy now confidently, though I knew he wouldn't get far. She would string him along with the others and then leave them all high and dry soon enough. It was her nature. No one could keep her attention for long. Will and I on the other hand were dancing together comfortably, not so close as to be awkward, but close enough to ensure that none of the boys in the club who were eyeing me dared to approach.

I'll admit, I had been confused by the other girls' friendship with Will at first. With him being such a flirt, I had always imagined that they would be careful not to get too close, but Lily had soon explained it to me. Will was absolutely a player, and a flirt, and a heartbreaker, but he was undyingly loyal to and protective of his friends. I may have been fair game at the gala, but at this point, I was strictly off limits in his mind. To him, and to anyone else whom he didn't approve of. Last weekend, a guy had approached Mira in a way that she hadn't appreciated, and Will had all too cheerfully walked over and told the guy to back off. With one tall, muscular blonde in front of him, and two other boys rapidly approaching, a threatening brunette and a concerned ginger, the boy had hurried off with all possible haste. We had laughed about it later.

I soon caught Sam's eye from where he was sitting in a booth with Lily and Eric. He inclined his chin to the back exit so I separated from Will, Aria, and the rest of the crowd to follow him out. He was… striking in the moonlight. His face all luminescent eyes, and shadow covered skin. He turned to look at me and he smiled in that way he did. As if he knew something I didn't.

"Having fun?" He asked cutting through my thoughts. I nodded and smiled my eyes on the full moon up above. The full moon brilliant and white. He shifted a touch awkwardly behind me, and I realized that he was uncharacteristically nervous. Something was up.

"Sam?" I asked curiously, turning my face from the moon towards him, my voice a touch concerned. It wasn't like him to be unsure he was always so arrogantly sure of himself. The last time I had seen him so nervous had been at the end of the gala. A thought occurred to me.

He seemed to stare at me for a long moment, his eyes brushing over me. Finally he asked me, "I was wondering if you'd like to go to out with me, Sunday?" he said it smoothly false bravado in his tone. It surprised me for a moment and it occurred to me for the first time that I could hurt him. That he cared for me, and I could break that. Something to avoid. He started again, less confident, "You don't… have to, by any mea-"

I interrupted, "Sam." He paused decidedly awkward, and I had to resist the urge to giggle at him, it certainly wouldn't help his confidence at the moment. I would laugh with him about it later. "I would love to go out with you." I said sincerely, before letting my tone turn teasing, "I was wondering when you were going to ask me, actually. Were you a little nervous?"

He seemed relieved by my answer even though he glared at me for my ribbing for a moment. Then he just rolled his eyes and snarked back, "Sorry, your highness. I'll be sure to speed up the process next time."

I smiled and now I laughed brushing away the cobweb-like thoughts that hissed '_his pretty, new flavor-of-the-week_.' I tucked myself under his arm comfortably; the both of us leaned up against the cold, stone walls of the alleyway. Perhaps not the most romantic place in the world, but with the memory of mist covered streets fresh in my mind's eye and the full moon shining down on us, it seemed to fit for us. A little world of our own, at least for the moment.

* * *

I glanced over at the big clock on the other side of the square again as I waited for Sam to show up. Rather than the traditional dinner-and-a-show date, he had told me to meet him here, in the square at two, although he refused to tell me what we would be doing.

Ok, I'll admit. I was pretty excited, a nice day, with a cute boy, on a (hopefully) fun date? Sounded like a good day to me. I was also… a little nervous, although I will _never_ tell Sam that. I spent most of the morning trying to decide what to wear while the girls tried to get the identity of my 'mystery' date out of me. I obviously didn't tell them. If I had, they would have tried to prevent me from going out of some misguided attempt to protect me.

Assuming they didn't just get pissed at me for even _agreeing_ to date a hero.

The boy had stubbornly refused to tell me where we were going so I had decided on a nice middle ground. A simple red sundress with a black belt, giving it an empire waist, along with a pair of nice red heels. Not so formal that they seemed out of place with the dress, but enough to dress up the outfit a little. A nice middle ground.

I tuned back into reality to see Sam heading towards me from across the square his outfit nice, but casual, a black backpack swung over his shoulder. We locked eyes and he gave me that obnoxious smile of his, pleased to see me while simultaneously looking arrogant. He's like that sometimes. I met him with a casual hug and I tucked my hand into the crook of his arm as we greeted each other and turned to head towards… wherever we were going.

"Hey, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." He said with a more honest smile than earlier, and I just shook my head.

"Not too long." My tone laughing, as it usually was around him. "So, where are we going, anyway?" I asked my tone falsely casual.

"Now why would I tell you that?" he questioned. I glared, but decided not to deign that with a response. He knew perfectly well, what I was thinking. We walked a few blocks, close together, side by side, talking and laughing comfortably. He led us over to the park and I barely resisted the urge to ask, again, what we were doing here. He seemed to sense my curiosity and his smile widened arrogantly, but kindly.

We crossed the park over to the large, white band shell where an outdoor concert was about to begin. Obviously, that's what we're doing here. We weren't the only couple there; far from it. The ground was littered with couples and friends curled up on blankets. Sam swung his backpack off his shoulder and pulling a blanket from within, he grabbed a space for us. I smiled happily and sat down. The concert was nice. It was a beautiful day out, I was curled up on a blanket with a cute boy, a good band was playing in the background, and it was just _happy_. Innocently, gleefully, happy. We talked and we laughed, we listened to the music and I curled up under his arm, comfortably. That was one thing that decidedly characterized my time spent with him. Comfortable. To use the hackneyed expression, we were like two puzzle pieces; we just fit together. It seemed easy and natural to grab his hand or curl up next to him. I didn't feel nervous or awkward in the slightest and he always seemed pleased at my general proximity. A very easy, comfortable, genuinely _happy_ relationship. Something I wasn't too used to.

The concert finished a little before five and we headed off to a restaurant. After a bit of debate on whether we were in the mood for Italian or Thai. Ultimately, we decided on the Italian with the unspoken consensus that if we went out together again we would try the Thai place. It was a nice little restaurant. It was a little too busy to be hometown, but a close approximate. We were escorted to a little booth in the back corner, and handed breadsticks by a waiter. He then rushed over to the next group of patrons. I ordered the traditional spaghetti and meatballs while he ordered the more obscure chicken toscano. (Part of me was suspicious that he only ordered the weird one in order to convince me to sample his food.)

"So we've talked about the hometowns, but I'm still not sure I know much about you…" Sam said suddenly. Half statement, half question.

I smiled, eager to talk to him. "Only if I can quiz you, too." I said a touch laughingly, and he nodded, agreeing to the terms. "What do you want to know?" I asked.

He paused, overdramatically, to think, "Are you a cat person or a dog person?"

"Dog" I answered easily, "Although, I've never actually had a pet."

He seemed surprised and a bit curious, "Why not?"

I shrugged not particularly concerned even though we were heading towards a rather sensitive subject. Family always was for me. "I don't know for sure, but I don't think my mother likes animals much. The one time I asked as a kid she just said no."

Oh, his face still seemed a little surprised and I resisted the urge to laugh at him a little. He was perhaps a bit _too_ used to being spoiled rotten. (It was easy to tell that he was. A slightly arrogant, only child, and the heir to the throne. Spoiled wasn't a shocker.) 'That's too bad." He finally said.

"You?" I asked curiously. I could see him going either way with this question.

He shrugged, not too inclined one way or another. "My parents prefer dogs, and I like them fine, but I've always liked cats. They're a little less rambunctious."

My turn. I thought for a split second before questioning, "Favorite hobby?"

He laughed, "That's easy. I love to run, although I like watching movies and hanging with the guys too."

I smiled happy that our conversation wasn't too awkward. "For me it's reading, socializing, and movies, so we've got two out of three at least." I said, a little joking, a little serious.

"Are we keeping score now?" he asked just as joking as I was and I smiled pleased that he was willing to spar with me. We continued to talk and soon he was telling me a story about his childhood with Eric and Will. He leaned forward across the table his hands moving expressively as he told me. "… so we were on Solaria and we were being forced to take dance lessons. Now, I've had the 'importance of social events' drilled into my head since I was a kid, so I knew that learning to dance was important, but we all knew how already. I mean, honestly, we'd all only been to half a billion dances, balls, galas, and soirées…"

His hand was sitting on the table now as he continued with his story. I, oh so casually, put my hand up on the table next to his and he glanced down distracted for a moment. "And?" I asked, my tone ever-so innocent. He grabbed my hand in his and I intertwined our fingers while he continued with his story.

We walked hand in hand back across the square over to the bus stop where we had met earlier. It was six or so, just at sunrise, and the place was largely empty. Although, there was a familiar looking girl across the square. I couldn't quite recognize her, but I put it out of my mind when we ducked into the empty waiting area while we talked casually. It was the normal stuff. 'I had fun, we should do this again.' Things like that. I stood close to him, a little in his personal space as the bus turned the corner onto our street. He saw the bus at the same moment as I did and he seemed to realize that our time was swiftly coming to an end. He gave me a long, searching glance, and then slowly, so I could pull away if I wanted to, he leaned his face down towards mine, and kissed me sweetly. I smiled against his lips before we separated.

It seemed like a good day to me.

* * *

Author's Note

Alright, so I'm aware that the plot has been a little slow so far, but the first year is supposed to give you the general idea of the characters and why they are friends more so than give you the overarching plots. Things will speed up a bit in the next few episodes and change a lot in the first summer. I have the entire plot planned out for three years they are in school and the two summers in between so things are at least going somewhere. Also I will go back through to edit periodically so expect things to change on occasion. It won't be anything major, just grammar and word usage and the like.


	6. Year 1: Picking Sides

· Kali's POV

I sighed heavily as I tossed my overfull bag of books onto the bed before collapsing there myself. It had been a _long_ day. Admittedly, most school days feel a little longer than they ought to be, but today's had been particularly bad. In Potions, Rebecca had managed to blow a hole in the wall of the potions lab resulting in all of us having to check for aconite poisoning, we had a 3-page essay assigned in Darkness, a test in Mayhem, and a snooze-worthy lecture in Magical Culture. However, the grand finale was when Dueling was canceled due to the aforementioned hole in the wall (See above: Totally Rebecca's fault) making the courtyard full of rubble and unsafe to duel in.

Not to mention how everyone had been acting lately. Apparently, some of the others had seen me hanging out with the new Winx Club, not to mention my date with Sam, and they, simply put, disapprove. A lot. In turn, I am well aware of their disapproval of said relationship, I quite obviously don't care, and for reasons unknown (read: totally known) that seems to bother them even more. I have said it before, I will say it again, this is all going to hit the fans soon, and it's not going to be fun. I heard the door open behind me as Rebecca and Ashley filed in, silent, staring, like they had been all week. I took another deep breath and decided to head out. It was obvious to me that I wasn't going to get anything done in my current mood. As I slipped my favorite black leather jacket over the gold and red top I was wearing, I reached for my cell phone and hit the speed dial. Setting it between my ear and my shoulder as I snatched up my purse. I listened to the ringing as I headed for the door.

"Hello?" I heard Eric question over the phone, sounding a little distracted, presumably due to him attempting to multitask by talking to the boys and I simultaneously. "Hey, Eric. You and the others up for doing something right about… now? I could use a pick me up at the moment." I said. I really could use a little time away from all the witch-iness of CT. I just couldn't deal with any more of it right now.

"Sure," he responded his voice jocular, if a bit concerned (but then, his voice generally is), "I'm sure the others would be happy to have something to do. Any input on what?" he questioned me.

"I don't even _care_. Anything away from CT sounds good at the moment." He laughed, wordlessly sympathizing with me.

"Alright we'll meet up with you in the square; we can decide what to do then." He answered before we said our farewells. By this point, I was heading down the long bridge/ramp from the doors of CT to the path to Magix, only too eager to get out of there. As I walked, I could feel the tension and resentment from the other witches. I was the most powerful in my class. I was supposed to be their leader, but here I was flaunting my preference for fairies and heroes' company over time spent with witches. To say the others were pissed at me would be the understatement of the century. The only one who hadn't either openly glared or cautiously tiptoed around the subject with me all day had been Marianne. A fact I decidedly appreciated from her. I made a mental note to keep Rebecca off her back for the next few weeks as a thank you.

The whispers followed me down the street as I headed towards town square, and they bothered me a bit, but I didn't let that show. That was a lesson that had been drilled into me early. One of the few lessons I was glad to have. It was just easier to hold my head up high and pretend that they don't perturb me in the slightest, even if I end up looking a little arrogant and haughty due to it. I reached the square and Will spotted me first, he smiled cheerfully and then started waving in a dorky, trying-way-too-hard kind of way to make the others laugh. He succeeded when Eric and Sam rolled their eyes and Tanner and Lily chuckled.

"Hey guys." I said walking over. I already felt a little lighter in their company, as if all the accusatory glares and whispered insults had vanished in an instant. I think Eric could tell that was how I felt when he gave me a knowing little smile and a side-hug. "So where are we headed?" I asked curiously.

Sam responded to this one, "We were thinking the park. Is that cool with you?" I nodded agreeably my eyes catching on his as we both tried not to blatantly stare at each other. We had gone on a few dates now, but hadn't officially labeled the relationship which meant just hanging out was a little awkward. After all, how do we act? Can he treat me like a girl he's seeing or is that only when we're on dates?

Anyway… I was shaken out of my thoughts by a sudden outburst from Will, "So… has everything been okay up at CT?" He asked, unusually serious, it was obvious to me (although apparently not the others as they looked fairly confused) that he had heard about the tension there and was worried about me.

I shrugged, not really eager to talk about it. "It's fine, and I'll be alright for now. I don't think any of them are willing to pick a fight with me, not yet at least." Now you could see the concern appear on the other's faces. Obviously, they didn't have their ears to the ground when it came to gossip and as such they hadn't heard the news.

Eric, always the protective one, spoke first, "What are you talking about? Is something going on, Kali?" I glared at Will for a sec while he pretended not to notice; apparently, I won't be getting away from the witch-iness so easily.

I rolled my eyes before reassuring Eric and the others who were at this point all looking at me with concern, "It's nothing really. Some of the witches at CT… disapprove of our friendship and they've been making waves about it, but really it's nothing." Eric nodded, the trusting sort, he was willing to take my word for it, Sam on the other hand gave me a look that told me he didn't believe me in the slightest.

Luckily, for me, we had at that point arrived at the park and I managed to evade Sam's questioning eyes by following Lily after she peeled off from the group into the brush. As a nature fairy, she was always eager to visit the park, the woods, and the like. We would stop to set up a picnic or some such and she would disappear for a moment to visit with the plants. I didn't really see the allure of the wild, buggy, messy groves and grottos she liked, but I didn't mind tagging along once in a while. She seemed to relax the moment we were out of sight of the tall buildings and well-kept trails of the city and park. She sat down cross-legged and I sat next to her even though the grass was anything, but comfortable. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the plants themselves tried to reach out for her the trees rustling in a language only she could understand. Moments like that are what make me a little jealous of my friends' abilities. They control music, nature, and water. They can heal _and_ fight. Fire only destroys.

We sat calm and quiet until the boys called for us. Someone else might have worried about getting turned around, but Lil knew which way she was going of course. Although, looking back I almost wish she didn't. Maybe if we had gotten turned around, or maybe if we hadn't walked right back into the middle of things, the center of the whole mess, things could have ended differently, although I'll admit; I doubt it. The whole thing was a train car headed for broken tracks with no turn off. Either it had to stop altogether or crash. There was no avoiding the issue.

But, it ended as it did, with us finding the guys… and Lindsey finding us.

I'm telling you. Worst. Day. Ever.

· Will's POV

Much to Sam's over-protective annoyance, the girls had disappeared the moment we got into the park. Lily heading, quite literally, for the hills while Kali followed close behind trying, rather blatantly, to avoid clearing it up herself. I considered just explaining the whole thing to them personally, but I ultimately decided it was really Kali's job to tell them. Not to mention, it was and is seriously entertaining watching the oh-so-put-together witch squirm on occasion.

Unfortunately, for her though, she could only hide for long and soon Tanner was yelling for them to rejoin the group. It only took a few moments for Lily to slip gracefully and for Kali to extricate herself rather less gracefully from the undergrowth, although I could tell that for Sam, ever impatient, it was a few moments too long. To his, seriously whipped, credit though, he resisted the urge to turn it into a big public tell-all, seeming content to just keep her safely within his, rather paranoid, sight for the time being.

I had to resist the urge to laugh at the two of them as Sam sat down on the checkered blanket and Kali, without a hint of consideration or discomfort, tucked herself under his arm. Those two may not have defined their relationship yet, but somehow they still acted more sweetly to each other than I had to most of my ex-girlfriends. Although, if I said that out loud I had no doubt that Kali would remark on how that probably said more about me than it did about them. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. That's really besides the point.

It was at about that pleasant point that we were so rudely interrupted from our regularly scheduled picnic to hear a special announcement from the Witch-Of-The-Year. She stalked up to our little group as if what she had to say was the most important thing we could ever possibly hear. Brat. My first inclination was to ignore her for a while just to see how she would react, but Kali unfortunately halted that burgeoning little plan by standing up to face the pissed-off witch and her posse of equally peeved women. On the bright side, this is probably the first time I'd ever fought a group of women pissed at a friend rather than at _me_.

Kali's expression shifted rapidly from content to haughty and dismissive. It was always astonishing to me how much her mannerisms changed when she was dealing with us versus other people. Especially Lindsey. Her voice was low and patronizing as it dripped with a condescending sort of amusement. All sarcasm and cruelty. "Oh… _Lindsey_. Do you _need_ something or are you just unusually bored today?

Lindsey turned red and she drew herself up, all narcissistic pride and self-righteousness when she heard Kali's quip. "I was actually wondering how bored _you_ must be if you're spending time with these pixies." She spat before continuing with the sort of false innocence that made you want to slap her, "Unless, you actually _want_ to spend time with them, but _surely_ you haven't stooped that low, right?"

You could see Kali narrow her eyes at the insults before she smiled coldly her eyes ice, as she responded mockingly, "Is it your eyes or your English giving you trouble today. You _do _realize that there's only one fairy here, right? Personally, I think it's the English language troubling you again. Need make words more simple?" Normally, the other witches would have tittered at that, just as eager to see Lindsey humiliated as to see Kali. However, today they stayed worryingly silent muttering darkly instead.

Sam and Eric had already drawn their swords by that point, Tanner had pulled out a dagger, while I grabbed my staff, and Lily tensed ready to activate her powers at any time. It was unfortunate that the witch hadn't come alone. The small crowd of angry witches behind Lindsey was going to be a bother and more of them seemed to gather as the encounter inched closer and closer to a fight.

The games and posturing came to a sudden and certain end when Lindsey stalked up until she was nose to nose with Kali and gave her an ultimatum. "Look, you don't get to play both teams here. Either you're with us or you're against us. Now pick a side or we'll pick one for you." This was the first thing that Lindsey had managed to say that actually got under Kali's skin, but it didn't happen at all like Lindsey had wanted it.

For all of her fire, Kali's voice was ice as she asked, "_Excuse_ me? Do you _really_ think _any_ of you can make me do _anything_?" She looked right in the other girl's blue eyes as she hissed, "_None of you _stand a snowball's chance in _hell_ against me. So think, very carefully, before you start a war with me, because if you start one _I will end it_. Is that, _perfectly_ clear?"

For her part though, the girl didn't cringe back she leveled her glance at Kali and repeated, "Pick a side." The witches had fanned out now facing us in a tightly packed semi-circle.

Kali suddenly struck out, as fast as light, a whip of fire knocking several off their feet before they could react. I tore my eyes off her impressive show of magica as she switched into her witch form and leapt at Lindsey. I saw another flash of light from the corner of my eye as Lily entered her battle form as well. I in turn headed for Eric's side my golden staff alight with red-hot flames as I struck aside any attacks that went near my prince or me. I watched Sam, fast and powerful; send several hexes arching back at their casters by reflecting them off his phanto-blade. Lily for her part flew behind their line and sent a wall of vines and plants rushing for them, tying them up and defending us from their spells. Kali, on the other hand, was dueling a number of the witches some 15 feet in the air. She spun and rolled midair as she threw fireballs, swung whips, threw knives, and created shields of fire as she dueled. Her face and form were obviously powered by sheer fury as she struck one witch down, and then another.

Eventually they started running for the hills with only a couple standing their ground. Lindsey and two other girls, a blonde and a brunette, all depowered themselves as a sign of surrender. Not that it mattered of course. Lindsey's glance was dismissive as she locked eyes with Kali and told her, "Well, I guess we could make you pick a side after all. Every witch in CT will know about this before sunset, and _no one_ will forget this."

Kali's response was vengeful and threatening, "I would hope not. I'd hate to have to repeat myself." Lindsey's eyes flashed angrily once more before the three defeated witches turned and stalked away, the brunette I didn't know catching Kali's eyes for a moment with a threatening glare. I glanced at Kali, concerned. Her jaw was tight, but her eyes unrepentant if still upset. I wanted to say something funny and comforting and kind, but I drew a blank. What could any of us say to her?

She had just given up her position for us, and those witches were not going to make this easy on her. We walked back to our respective schools in silence, but I could see Kali take a last worried breath before heading up the ramp into what had been _her_ school this morning. Those witches were not going to make this easy on her.


	7. Year 1: Possession

· Ashley's POV

What struck me most were her eyes. They shouldn't of. I mean, it's not like they were different from how they usually were, but somehow I couldn't get that particular image out of my eyes. Her hair a curly mess behind her, her expression unforgiving and unrepentant, but her eyes… Turquoise and angry, fierce and defiant, and somehow, unreasonably… exultant. A look that said she was free and dangerous and that she glorified in that fact, in how the others turned tail and ran before her. It was a look as dangerous and as beautiful as the flames she controlled.

There was a reason Kali had been the head of the freshmen class before.

She was certainly powerful, but apparently weak-willed. I couldn't imagine why else she was pandering to a bunch of weakling pixies and wannabe heroes. I'll admit, I was a touch disappointed with her; I had expected her to be much better than that. Wasn't it just last week we were complaining about the rotten do-gooders together? Now out of nowhere she was hanging out with the fluttering morons and making out with some pathetic hero. Luckily for us, Lindsey was willing to forgive Becca and I for siding with Kali against her so now we were spending our time with Lin although less fortunately, we were still required to room with Kali. Not that Becca or I had spoken a word with her since that day in the park. Most of the girls have been avoiding her actually, hesitant to piss off Lindsey by fraternizing with her rival, but even more hesitant to piss off Kali. She _was_ still the most dangerous witch in the freshmen class, a title I personally doubted Lin would ever win off her. Not that I would tell Lin that.

Kali had actually been spending most of her time with Marianne nowadays, a fact Becca would have loved to use as ammunition against her if it wasn't for the fact Kali would've sent her through a _wall_ or something. Which brings me to the next point, Lin may have made her point in the park, proving Kali's betrayal to the rest of us, but Kali had made her point too. _Pick a fight with me or my friends and I will end you,_ and she hadn't had to repeat it. With no title to maintain and only one person in the school not at odds with her, she could afford to do… pretty much anything she wanted to those who offended her. It's not like the professors would stop her anyway; this isn't Alfea, and she had used that newfound freedom to full effect convincing everyone to stay away from her while officially putting Marianne under her personal protection. No one dared mess with the geeky little bookworm now. A pity, really, but it's not like _I'm_ willing to risk it. I'll leave getting blasted to Becca or some other idiot who doesn't think her actions through enough. In fact, I think that that'll make an excellent show. Amusing, you know?

· Kali's POV

"Hey Mari." I called as I walked into the potions lab, my book bag slung over my shoulder. I tossed it onto our table and slid into my seat, as she looked over, smiling at me. I leaned back casually crossing my legs as I asked her, "So what's new with you? That guy from Red Fountain text you back last night?"

She grinned confidently before answering, "Good morning, Kali. He actually had a dragon wrangling exam to study for last night so we didn't chat much, and other than that nothing is really too new. It's all same old, same old. Although, that essay for the headmistress was less than fun, did you get it done?" She scrunched up her nose a bit, as she complained about the homework load as if she didn't find it easy. I resisted the urge to laugh at her for that. Something that had become apparent when I befriended her two weeks ago was that she was infinitely brighter than I was. She breezed through the theoretical classwork that left me blinking, confused. Although I still topped her in practical applications. It also turned out that I was right about all her needing was a confidence boost. After we started talking and I made it clear to the others that picking a fight with her meant picking a fight with me, she had perked right up proving to be an intelligent, entertaining, and capable companion. Brighter and kinder than Rebecca _or _Ashley. Although, I made a mental note to talk style with her later. While her quirky taste was very her, a wardrobe change could help her in a few ways. Not that she looked _bad_ by any means, just a little… overly cheery. At least for a witch. Her long brown hair was kept in pigtails while she wore decal t-shirts that said things like "It's Levi_o_sa not Levio_sa_…" and "Don't make me get my flying monkeys…" with tennis shoes. Not to mention, that it certainly didn't help that her preferred color shades were periwinkle and tickle-me-pink.

I am _very_ glad that Mari and I had become friends; it was nice not to be totally alone in class, and I'll admit that that was what I had expected to deal with. After everything, I highly doubt any of the others will ever even _speak_ to me again. A thought that was both relieving and depressing. Nice because I wouldn't have to pretend to agree with their crazy prejudices (a mind view Mari shared with me), but also lonely. Not that I could bring myself to regret anything, of course. So I slipped from class to class silent, but happy with myself, and if the others hissed too loudly at my passing I'd give them a threatening look and keep walking. I spent most of my school time either in class or in the library with Mari and any time I could get away from CT I met up with the others to hang out. It was actually nice, better than the beginning of the year even because it meant no more faking and no more lies. Of course, things weren't all settled yet. There was no doubt in my mind that my mother had heard about this madness by now, but I wasn't going home for Spring Break so she'd have plenty of time to get over it. Or get angry about it, I guess, but I don't want to think about that. Especially not after our last fight.

As I headed from Dueling to Charms I passed Rebecca and Lindsey in the hallway. They stopped, eyes narrowing, but I wasn't looking for a fight at the moment considering I'd spent the last hour working my aggression out on the poor girls in my Dueling class. However, it seemed regardless of my attitude they _were_ looking for a fight, and they knew they could get one from me.

"Oh look, it's Kali. How is our little traitor doing? Off to hang out with the usual trash?" There was Rebecca, her eyes manic and excited, eager for a battle of wits.

I hid my anger replacing it with a mask of confident amusement, trying to show her that she didn't bother me. "I'm doing well, thanks, but how could I be hanging with the usual trash? You and Ashley aren't even talking to me anymore." I replied, a snide turnaround for her insult. Nothing like calling your ex-best friends, trash, right? Or not…

Lindsey, always temperamental, narrowed her eyes and stepped forward as if she was going to take a swing at me, but Ashley who had appeared behind the others like a shadow held her back, her expression guarded. Rebecca wouldn't be stopped though she smiled cruelly and spat, "You think you're so clever, don't you. Well don't worry. You'll get what's coming to you soon enough." Her expression was manic as she laughed at me; I kept my own expression under control as I rolled my eyes and stepped past the trifecta of prissy witches. They wouldn't dare fight me again, and if they won't then they aren't even a big enough deal to be considered enemies. Although, if they did fight me they would lose. They couldn't take me without way more magical support than they currently had, and that much, I could accept.

· Lindsey's POV

Kali. That pathetic traitor. Not to mention her _lovely_ new friends. It's as if the girl had suddenly forgotten all the persecution I was sure she had faced, the persecution we all had. Fairies were the pretty, popular, well-liked ones and witches were hated. As if we all had a choice in the matter, really. I mean, sure, a girl could choose to switch sides once she got old enough to choose for herself, but girls were born with the same magical alignment as their mothers' and that's how they were treated and raised. Besides, how many girls were willing to essentially give up their families, because most would _never_ accept their choice. Now sure, Kali and I were rivals, but I had _thought_ we were still on the same side, and her betrayal still stung, and went against… everything. I just couldn't believe her. Willing to play nice with the same people who had always been so cruel to the rest of us; making friends with people who will never accept who she was born to be. Stupid, stupid, little girl.

This couldn't stand.

Someone needed to remind her who she was, who she was dealing with, and exactly what power she was throwing to the wayside, and Ashley had found just the thing to do. See, the three of us probably couldn't take Kali in a fight, and we definitely couldn't handle her if she had backup so we need a little more power in our corner. This is where Ash's plan comes in; she had found a book in the library that briefly mentioned calling upon the Ancestral Witches in the basement, something about how their presence was particularly strong inside the Crypt. It had taken her awhile to find directions down there, but she had eventually managed it and the three of us were planning to go down there after class. All we had to do was summon the coven and then we could get help or advice from them. I was sure that they would help us. After all, Kali was quickly becoming a disgrace to the title of witch. They would help and then we would remind Kali what she was _really_ doing. It was foolproof, really.

The three of us walked out of our last class of the day with excitement. We turned the corner into an empty hallway before Ashley got out the map she had nicked from the library to show us the way to the Crypt. It was down in the tunnels beneath the school. It only took us a few minutes to get down there, of course, but finding our way through them was a bit trickier.

Rebecca, "Are you sure you know which way you're leading us, Ash?" she asked her voice impatient. She eyed the dirty, reddish walls of the caves with distaste.

Ashley for her part seemed vaguely insulted by the idea that her information was anything less than stellar, "Of course I know where we're going. I wouldn't have come down here myself if I wasn't confident." I was reminded of something Kali had remarked upon once that seemed to fit Ashley especially, something about how you never knew when an honest person would be honest, but how you could always trust a dishonest person to be dishonest. It seemed fitting. If Ashley wasn't sure of her own success in this venture she would have just sent _us _down. She wouldn't have been willing to risk anything by coming down herself.

"Oh shut it you two, the door's right there." I said and then smiled, pleased with our success, I headed for the door calling behind me, "Come on!" The two shared a glance for a moment before quickly following me down. The first thing I saw through the door was a long grey spiral staircase. It circled the outside of the room leaving a gaping hole in the center that seemed to glow with a threatening red light. Before I could take a step further, Ashley stopped me.

"Wait." She said her voice steady, after a moment, I saw why she had stopped us. Tendrils of creeping vines were growing up from the side of the hole squirming closer to our ankles. With a quick wave of her hand, she froze the vines in time preventing them from attacking us. Now, I suppose I should mention, my forte is electricity, Ashley commands time, and Rebecca's specialty is acid, which always seemed particularly fitting for her. A short pause as Ashley waited to see if anything else would attack us, but then she relaxed saying, "Ok. I think we're good to go."

I took a few careful steps before pausing to look for other traps. Failing to find any, we continued down the steps with more confidence, the dank, earthy tunnels lit only by the ominous red light that shone from below.

The stairs seemed practically endless, but eventually we reached the bottom and the three of us crept softly through the steam-filled room looking for the right place to summon our future allies. Then Becca called out, "I found it!" My neck snapped towards her, as did Ashley's. I could just barely see Becca's golden hair through the smoky gloom of the place, my view slightly obstructed by a thick support column. The three of us converged where Becca had sensed the energy shift, an oddly shaped grate that seemed to emit the smoke filling the room.

It was time. I took my place between Ash and Becca and we all looked at each other for a short moment. A quick double check. Are _you_ ready? Are _we _ready? Then, bracing ourselves, we grasped hands and the girls chanted spells of summoning and evocation while I called for the Great Witch Coven to speak with us. According to Ash, the girl in the biography she had read hadn't had to officially call on the witches, but they had had a reason to speak to her. The Witches had no real reason to speak with us, but we'd give them one soon enough. I smiled sensing a shift in the magical energies of the room.

I could feel their presence more strongly now, watching, not malevolent, but not benevolent either, just waiting to see what we would do. Three shapes formed out of the smokestack in front of us. Three women with auras of pure dark magic, then the leader, Belladonna, spoke with a voice like nails on a chalkboard and knives being sharpened.

"Who are you to call upon us?" she called.

The girls had stopped chanting now and I took a deep, steadying breath as I answered her, "We are witches seeking your assistance and council in an important matter. One of us, the strongest witch in the school, has turned her back on us and befriended a bunch of heroes and fairies. To make matters worse it's the children of those same do-gooders who stopped you in the past." I added the last bit to get their attention, confident that even if they thought our goals were petty they would still want vengeance against their enemies.

Sure enough, "Do-gooders?" one of the sisters, Tharma, questioned her curiosity piqued.

I smiled, convinced of my success, "The children of the Winx Club and their hero flunkies. Kali's even dating one of them; it's a disgrace to witches everywhere." I emphasized the word _witches_, aiming to appeal to their sense of pride, a thing every witch has plenty of, but they didn't react as I had hoped.

I watched Belladonna tilt her head slightly as Tharma and Lysslis circled around surrounding us. Ashley snapped to attention prepared for a fight although obviously frightened, Rebecca recoiled from where one of the spirits passed too close to her backing herself closer to Ash and I as if we could protect her.

"What are you doing?" I demanded as masterfully as I could, as if I could intimidate them into backing off. I should have known better. I should have _known!_ My breath was short now, my movements jittery as cold fear and racing panic entered into my blood, tearing the breath from my lungs. The last thing I heard before the end was the cackling of the three sisters as they rushed upon us, Belladonna pushing herself into me until I seemed to lose feeling in my body. I couldn't move, couldn't even seem to _breathe_, it was as if someone was holding my heart still, but I couldn't yet die. As painful and panic inducing as being caught in one of Ashley's time stopping curses.

Then my hand seemed to raise itself up in front of my eyes, clenching and unclenching itself. My jaw opened and closed before I heard someone say in _my_ _voice_. "Well sisters, let's go see about our enemies _sweet_ little children. Shall we?" Rebecca and Ashley chuckled darkly, the expressions on their faces foreign and unfamiliar to me as Belladonna walked my body out of the crypt and up the stairs. Inside my head, I started screaming, but _no one could hear me._


	8. Year 1: Spring Break

· Kali's POV

I'm being ridiculous, and I know I am, but… that knowledge didn't change anything. I was curled up on a windowsill in the library avoiding everyone. Spring break had officially begun and the others, in this case Eric, Will, and Mira, were coming to pick me up. We were planning to spend our break on Sparks, but I wasn't feeling excited. Instead, I just felt… out of place. I _should_ be going home to see my family. I _should _be calling my mother and cheerfully talking about my plans. I _should_ be doing… something. They were my _family_, but I hadn't even spoken to them since our fight on the Day of the Rose. Were they still angry? Were they sorry? I didn't have the slightest clue, and part of me felt cowardly continuing to avoid them, but at the same time I certainly didn't want to face them. I exhaled harshly running my hand through my hair, a habit I'd picked up from Sam.

This was the longest period of time I'd ever not spoken to them. Simply put, disagreements or not we had always been close. They had always been my family, my best friends in a world where I'd always been a bit of a loner, my mentors and teachers. How much of my life had been spent in the library with Donna reading her tomes or listening to her low, soft voice as she read to me as a child? How much of my time was spent venting to Sandra as she advised me on all the (violent) plans I could use to fix my problems, both of us laughing because we knew I wouldn't actually follow through with any of them? How often did I face a situation trying to decide what my mother would do? I have always been _her_ daughter. I may control fire, but I was raised like ice. The way I spoke and acted when I was angry? Her. The way I smirked playfully when I was laughing at a friend? Her. I had been told all the time as a child how much I was like her. How we both scrunched up our noses when unhappy, our looks… We shared blue eyes, though mine were a little bluer than hers, blonde hair, although hers was a touch paler, the same tall build… I missed her and, in extension, the others every time I looked in the mirror, and I couldn't seem to shake how empty I felt at the moment. Not even _speaking_ to them...

"Kali?" I heard Mari call from the door of the library. I turned towards her and raised an eyebrow. A silent response. She smiled at me, her expression a touch concerned, "You ok?"

I smiled tiredly, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just waiting for the others." She nodded, but didn't look all that convinced. She wasn't going to argue with me over it now anyway.

"I just came up to say goodbye, I'm just headed home." She said slightly awkward, still doing her utmost to figure out what was up with me. I shoved my maudlin thoughts to the back of my mind and smiled. I walked over to hug her and we said our goodbyes, promising to stay in contact over the break.

She soon left, but by then I had been diverted from my thoughts entirely and I felt no inclination to return to them so I headed downstairs to my dorm room. I shouldered the door open, my hands largely occupied with the books I had just checked out. Fast enough to give them whiplash Rebecca and Ashley turned to stare straight at me. I just gave them a slightly suspicious look and walked over to my bed. They had been acting oddly all week really. The Trifecta hadn't picked a fight with me, given me a rude glare, or even muttered insults in passing at all lately. Not to say they were being kind. They stopped any conversations they were having when I came into earshot and they stared at me silently whenever I was in their presence. Silent and creepy as Rhy'halla.1 I grabbed a few last minute odds and ends to throw in my purse, shoved my books into my backpack and with a wave of my hand, shrunk all my things down small enough that I could shove them in my pocket. Finally, I slipped my light brown leather jacket over my blood red tank tops, jeans, and calf high boots and headed for the door.

By the time I reached the front door of Cloud Tower, Eric was landing the ship at the foot of the ramp. Seems it's time to go.

* * *

I woke up to Will shaking my shoulder and calling my name, "Kali? Kali, wake up. We're in Sparks." His voice was excited, _ecstatic_, to be home again. We exited the ship and I soon could see why he was so happy. Sparks was beautiful; it was hard to believe that just a generation ago it had been an abandoned ball of ice. We were standing in the middle of a huge garden. The place was just _beautiful_, a riot of colors and smells. Beds of multicolored flowers, well-shaped trees, little green hedges, and white walkways. A picturesque pond to our left and a winding path leading through the gardens to our right. Straight ahead of us was a broad, well-appointed walkway leading up to the palace. There were fountains and statues and flower covered arches scattered throughout. The place was beautiful, bright, and colorful, nothing at all like Whisperia. Where home was set in a perpetually foggy twilight here, the sun seemed almost unnaturally bright making the colors of the world stand out even more. Home's dark alleys and tightly crowded, darkly colored buildings were nothing like Eric's sprawling family estate.

"Impressed?" I heard Eric ask, happy and content, but a touch laughing.

I rolled my eyes at him before admitting, "A little. This place is beautiful." I turned around, my back to the palace, crouching down in order to look at one of the flowerbeds. The flowers within were yellow with red-tipped petals, six pointed and sharply tipped. "I like these ones."

I heard a voice I didn't recognize answer me, causing me to jolt out of my crouch and spin around to see, "Tiger lilies. They're my wife's favorites, too." The man who had spoken was… familiar for some reason, but I shook that thought out of my mind. Probably just because he looks like his son. He was tall, with broad shoulders, blonde hair, and Eric's brilliantly blue eyes. Eric, Mira, and Will walked over to greet him, obviously comfortable.

I stood back until Eric introduced us "Kali, this is my father, Skye, and you're welcome to just call him that."

Skye laughed at that and agreed, "In fact I insist you call me that, King Skye is a little too formal for friends." I smiled a little more at ease and we shook hands, exchanging the usual pleasantries. He then led the four of us past the escort of guards that had entered the garden with him and escorted us into the castle.

We hadn't gotten very far before a figure, red-haired and surrounded by an aura of powerful light magic, appeared at the top of one of the staircases calling out, "Boys? Mira?"

Eric smiled widely and called up to her, "Hey Mom!" Will laughed and imitated him, although why he called Eric's mother, mom, as well I wasn't totally sure. The queen hurried down the stairs to greet us, throwing her arms around each of the others in turn while I again waited to be introduced, "Mom, this is Kali. Kali, my mom, Bloom."

We greeted each other and our little group of six walked onward through the castle to the dining room, servants having already taken our bags up to our rooms. We were soon all comfortably sitting and eating dinner as Eric's parents made conversation. I was sipping on my drink when Bloom asked me, "So Kali, where are you from again?"

I answered calmly although I kept a weather eye out for her reaction. People tended to react to my home world badly. As I have said before, it's not exactly a nice place. "Whisperia." To her credit though, she didn't even flinch.

"You have family there?" she asked obviously looking for details on my home life. Who my family members were, what they were like, etc. The others stiffened a little knowing family was a bit of a sore spot for me. I hadn't spoken of the matter often and they were kind enough not to bring it up so Bloom's blunt question made them a bit worried.

I however, answered simply. It was a common question, and I didn't need to go into the sort of detail that was hard to talk about. Just the superficial stuff. "Mmhm. I live with my mother Ilena, and my two aunts, Donna and Sandra. They're all witches as well. They taught me a lot of what I know about magic, although we do disagree on the usage of it once in a while."

She nodded obviously not catching the less positive potential meaning of my statement. She seemed to have one more question though, an unfortunately well aimed one at that, "So what about your father?"

I froze and so did the others, only Eric's parents seemingly unaffected by the sudden tension. After a moment I answered with fake nonchalance, "I don't really know who my father is. My mother doesn't like to talk about him. All she told me was that he was a warlock from here on Sparks, and that they were together only briefly before he disappeared when I was three or four." Yet, even though I barely remembered him, my only memory consisting of the scent of wildflowers and just a glimpse of blonde hair, I had always missed him. Or at least, I think that's how I've felt. Truthfully, I just know that I've always missed… something. The vague sense of emptiness in my gut, my heart. I couldn't honestly say for sure if that was me missing my father or not, but who else could it be? I'd felt the same way as far back as I can remember, each of my memories tinged with the sense that something, some part of me, was absent, and far away. Not that it mattered considering how he just left. I shook my head returning myself to the matter at hand.

Bloom seemed to have no answer to what I had said so she quickly just changed the subject, returning to lighter subject matter, and so dinner passed without further incident, although I still couldn't shake the sense that Eric's parents were familiar somehow. I felt as if I'd met them before. I recognized their mannerisms, their tone of voice, their little expressions, far more than I should have considering I'd only just met them. It was odd really, but soon enough dinner was over and we all headed to our rooms to unpack for the next two weeks.

Mira had her own room here due to all the time all of the kids spent here so Mira, apparently eager for late-night gossip sessions, suggested that they put a second bed in her room temporarily so that we could share a room for the break. I had agreed and here I was. Listening to Mira chat about all the young sons of noblemen I would get to meet over the break and how she was convinced that her newest crush would be her prince charming. Honestly, I loved the girl to death, but some days I just had to shake my head in wonder at her. She is so… Mira. However, before I headed to bed I decided to go take a walk around the gardens to clear my head a little. After today's nostalgia, I think I could use one.

· Eric's POV

Will and I hung back after dinner waiting for the girls to leave before speaking to my parents. I love my parents really I do, but I had told my mother that Kali was touchy about her family. I was sure my mother had a good reason to bring it up, all considered, but I did want to know what that "reason" was because I had been worried for a second that things would get difficult.

I turned to say something, but my mother beat me to it, "She's not at all what I expected."

Her response made Will laugh and shake his head, his dirty blonde hair going everywhere, "Let me guess, you heard that Sam was involved with her so you assumed that she was like a skater girl or something."

My mother glared at him for a moment, but ignored his outburst instead finally turned towards me and answered my still unspoken question, "She seems familiar, but I'm sure I haven't met her. I thought I might have run into her parents at some point. Considering what she said, I would imagine her father. Although, without a name I can't say for sure." Her answer wasn't great, but I could understand her curiosity especially considering the circumstances. A familiar girl with fire powers? It's no wonder my mom had to ask, but Kali's backstory explained everything, and I didn't want to think about that.

As Will and I headed up to our conjoined bedrooms, I caught a glimpse of Kali through a nearby window. She had left the castle and was walking down one fo the garden paths. I stopped and Will took a few more steps before pausing, realizing I was no longer at his side. "Eric?" he asked, but I just shook my head.

Then I answered, "I'll be up in a second." He looked at me for a second as if trying to read my mind before shrugging, apparently giving up on the endeavor to head for bed. I, however, turned down a different hallway and padded down a back staircase to the backdoor to the garden. She was out of sight by then, but I had seen the direction she was heading in, and I knew the place better than her so soon I found her sitting on a bench in a secluded little corner of the garden. She seemed distracted, gazing out across the garden, but not seeing anything. "Kali?" I asked, alerting her to my presence. She didn't look over, which was unusual for her. Instead, she just tilted her head towards me slightly to show that she was listening. I took a seat next to her on the elaborate white bench, and asked, "Is something wrong?" All considered, I was sure that she wasn't. She was acting a bit out of character, and my mother had given her plenty to be upset over.

"Nothing's wrong. So no." She responded, her voice quiet and distant, but her phrasing off. Further signs that something was different about her tonight.

"So yes?" I responded, reminding her that I knew her to well for her to lie to me.

She finally looked over at me, her expression a little sheepish, "So maybe a little." I smiled a little laughing a little encouraging, "I miss my family. I haven't spoken to my mother or aunts since our fight, and…" I encouraged her to continue and she seemed to take a moment to decide if she was ok with telling me, "It's ridiculous, but some days I just… I miss my father."

"How is that ridiculous?" I questioned.

"I've don't even remember him. I don't even know if I really miss _him_, you know? I just know that I miss… somebody. That something always seems to be… gone somehow." She whispered. She seemed to be feeling a thousand things. The longing she spoke about, the annoyance at herself for feeling it, the comfort she got from speaking about it rather than holding it all in.

"I know what you mean." I said quietly, the feeling was familiar although it wasn't my father I missed. She looked over at me surprised to hear me say that, but she didn't question it and I didn't answer. So we sat quietly in the garden I had so often played in as a child, both gazing out looking for someone who wasn't there.

Not anymore.

* * *

1\. Rhy'halla was a word Icy used in the 4kids version of Episode 107, Grounded. She pretty much used it the same way we use Hell so that's how I'm going to use it as well.


End file.
